The Holy Knight of DxD

Chapter 40: Camelot (Part 3)

[You know, I don't understand anything,] the dragon that resided within Rider's body said in an uncertain tone. [You didn't want to help Artoria and Shirou, but you had helped that fox woman and your counterpart. What are you planning?]

Sitting in front of a fire, with an inflamed stick in his hands, Rider ate fire to recharge his magic reserves.

"Seeing her brought back memories of my youth," Rider replied, summoning Tamamo's damaged mirror from his vault. "And I'm working to make sure he keeps his promise to me."

[I see,] Auros said, going back to sleep again.

Rider's wish was to reunite with Claire, the woman he loved and the one he had failed to protect. But while he had gone to the Throne of Heroes as a Heroic Spirit with his own Saint Graph, she was in Avalon waiting for him.

"You are deplorable. You dare to think of her even though I'm here." A woman sat next to Rider and grabbed a piece of meat that he had cooked. "Truly, you are an incorrigible man even though I gave you everything."

She was a divine-looking woman with long scarlet hair and dark brown eyes. She wore a long, burgundy dress that was open on her sides, red gloves reaching over her elbows, and boots.

"And I'm not saying that those times weren't great, Irene," Rider said as he moved the embers to invigorate the fire a little. "It's just..."

"I know." The woman named Irene smiled softly. "My time ended when I died."

Irene wasn't exactly alive. It was a magical projection created by a spell from Rider's world called "Historia of the Dead", which allows him to manipulate magical energy to give life to the constructs of dead people who possessed the memories and abilities of when they were alive. "Irene" was one of these and one of the most powerful mages Rider had known and the only lover he had ever had besides his wife.

"I have no other wish," Rider said, taking an old clay doll, decorated with makeshift items, that Rider had kept in his vault. "I will do anything to get it."

"You're incorrigible." Irene approached and gently rested her head on Rider's shoulder. "Always looking for that person without ever reaching her. Any man would have quit long ago."

"It's love, Irene," Rider said, gently stroking the features of the redheaded woman. "Just as I love you, I love her and everything she has represented in my life."

Rider might not remember the details of his life, but the feelings he felt in life remained in his heart. He loved Irene even though the woman next to her was nothing more than a magical projection, but the woman Rider had loved most was the one who had given him a purpose.

"If I were alive, would you marry me?" Irene asked.

"This has never changed," Rider replied. "You are and you will be until the end of the world."

"Then perhaps I can allow her to have you a little," Irene said.

No woman would want to be with a man who does nothing but think about his dead wife, but Irene was different. Rider had played an important role in her acceptance process and then, when she was finally ready to do so, he realised her desire to be human. In addition, he had protected her to the end and had been by her side even when she was an old and invalid woman while he maintained his youth as if it were a curse.

"So what's next?" Irene asked.

"Let's see." Rider took the map of Britain that he had stolen from King Arthur. "I would say that returning to Camelot is not an option. I say we leave his fall to God." He folded the map back and put it back in the duffel bag. "I would say we will pay our respects to Morgan."